Monthly Archives: March 2012

Literature Reviews

Mush!: Sled Dogs With Issues

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Mush!: Sled Dogs With Issues

Glenn Eichler

This book is very short and sweet.  The story is consists of chapters following the lives and daily activities of sled dogs and their master (and his mate).  I had a hard time at first telling the dogs apart (especially Fiddler and Venus).  Once I got the dogs down though, as well as their personalities, the stories were much funnier.  I even went back to re-read the first chapter again after I finished.

Winston was my favorite dog to hate, and Buddy was my favorite dog, period.  With his adorable tail and his natural ability to woo the ladies–I adored him.
This one’s a cutie.  Check it out if you like quick graphic novels and dogs.  Oh, and grumpy men.  There’s one of those in the story too.
Postcards

Misty Bridge

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How completely awesome is this bridge?  Don’t you want to read some Edgar Allen Poe while standing in this exact spot?  I love it.  To get here, you’d have to travel to the Czech Republic, which is where the card is from.  I’ll go with someone–anyone up for it?

Dani's Adventures in the City

Lost Earring Adventure

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A few weeks ago I came home, put my groceries away and then cooked myself a delicious dinner.  When I was finished, I got ready for bed, only to realize that I had only one earring.  Now, if it was just a regular store-bought pair, I wouldn’t care too much, but these earrings are one-of-a-kind.  My mom made me these earrings, and they are by far my favorite pair in the world.  They are red, and match everything and when I am nervous or bored, I can twist the bead in the middle.  I love these earrings.

To say I was a little bit upset to find one missing is like saying the ocean is a little bit full of fish pee.  I made Bubbles look for it and then I even obnoxiously hung the remaining earring on the wall so everyone who passed through my apartment would know what to look for.  I mourned the loss of the earring, and after a week, decided to finally just give up and ask my mom to make me a new pair.

But first, I was determined to eat some grapes.  When I lifted the grapes out of my fridge, look what I found:

Please ignore the fact that my fridge looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since it was purchased.

Anyway, I have no idea how my earring got in the fridge or why I didn’t find it sooner.  Regardless, I forwarded this picture to everyone and gleefully ran around the apartment laughing and screaming with joy.  Silly earring, fridge is for food!

Literature Reviews

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Sherman Alexie

This book was beyond fabulous.  The pictures give it this Diary of a Wimpy Kid kind of a look, but forget it–it’s nothing to take lightly.  It tells the story of Junior, a teenager who needs to figure out what it means to want more out of life than rotting on the rez without betraying his tribe or himself.

I loved reading it–the narrator has a very truthful and witty way of explaining the circumstances of his life to the reader and it made me, as both an outsider to his tribe as well as a stranger to his life feel like I could trust him to help me see through his eyes.
And he did.  Without complaining about the lot handed to him, he tells it like it is.  He paints a realistic picture of his tribe, his white school, and his relationship with both as he straddles the borderland and loses things that are most important to him.  Also, he’s completely hilarious and refreshingly honest.  It’s great.
I highly recommend you pick it up.  And while you’re at it, pick up a copy for a friend.
Postcards

Cherries

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This postcard is from the Ukraine.  It reminds me a great deal of my friend Emilie, who used to hang red chilli peppers around her room.  I could see a postcard like this decorating her living space as well.

Letters to the Universe
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Dear Swing Guy With The Dapper Hat,

You’ve got the most impressive networking skills I have ever seen in my entire life.  I am completely amazed by your ability to travel with a group of strangers and manage to find exactly what you are looking for, then part with all of our contact information.  I was confused by your dance style, but thank you for dancing with me anyway, even if I mostly laughed at my inability to follow and you counted steps for me like that was going to help.  Sorry!

Love,

The chick in the brown dress, laughing as you counted

PS: You should totally make a swing dance Shakespeare play.  Just sayin’.

Literature Reviews

Maus: Volume 1

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Maus: Volume 1

Art Spiegelman

The Holocaust is a very touchy subject with children.  Many novels hold back when they give details regarding the barbarism and complete cruelty of the time.

Maus doesn’t do that.  It provides readers with the nitty, gritty details of Art Spiegelman’s father’s experience.  Some parts were hard to read, and most of it reminds me of a horror movie.  These people, who only a few days earlier had normal experiences and worried about things I worry about, now had to run for their lives and pay civilians to hide them.  I couldn’t imagine having to do that.  I can’t imagine having the brains and courage to do the things they did.
I also really liked how the recount of the Holocaust were placed between visits when the graphic novel was being written.  Through these encounters you realize Art’s father is no saint, but he’s human, like the rest of us.  He’s lost unimaginable things and somehow survived.  I wish I could say I’m impressed, but mostly I’m horrified.  He should have never had to go through any of that, period.  Trying to put myself in his shoes was too terrifying.  This is something everyone should read–and something that should be passed on.  It should never be forgotten or dumbed down.
Letters to the Universe
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Dear Guy Sitting At The Table Beside Me, Sucking His Teeth While He Types Up His Screenplay,

There’s a reason I keep looking up from my writing.  I promise there is something more than fate causing us to consistently make eye contact with one another.  Had I not already drank the remainder of my green tea, I would have spilled it on your computer.

Love,

The chick giving you a death stare

Movie Reviews

Black Swan (2011)

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Black Swam (2011)

Okay, what?  Was she just completely cooky the whole time?  Did I miss something more?  Did she really dance the entire last act with glass lodged in her abdomen?  How did she not bleed to death before then?

And what was up with her mother?  Is everyone who dances crazy?  Or is this isolated to just the New York branch?  I think I missed the major point of this movie because I got to the end feeling just as confused and annoyed as when I started.  Can someone explain the purpose of this film to me?
I think it’s safe to say that I didn’t enjoy it.  I think I may have liked it better if they hadn’t made her crazy.  Why wouldn’t the film be about some young woman trying to make it big while exploring her sexuality?  Why doe a woman have to be crazy to do that?
Bleck.  Talk about disappointing.